Technique Tuesday - Lovely You

 Hello again, I hope that you are enjoying the mini heatwave that we have here in the UK? My room has been in excess of 30 degrees which is unusual to say the least!  Sadly, it won't last very long so I'm going to enjoy cooking myself while I craft! Today I am continuing with the Lovely You stamp set from Stampin' Up! Using Gorgeous Grape card base which is a really strong purple, a piece of the new Ombre Speciality Paper in shades of purple which also has a gorgeous glimmer to it. There are some beautiful colours in the pack all with shades throughout each 12" x 12" sheet. The sheets are blue, yellow, purple and red. They are absolutely stunning!

Today's card layout was an inspiration from Andrea at valleyinspiration.blogspot.com She has made some really beautiful cards and this is my version of one of hers. 

The technique that I have used is I believe called the kissing technique. This involves using 2 or more colours of ink. I chose the stronger colours of Gorgeous Grape and Highland Heather, which is a lighter purple. Married with the Ombre paper I think it looks a really great combination.

Cary is the one who always cuts paper at different angles and it really makes me nervous to do it but do it I did. I hope you like it.

Make It Monday - Lovely You

 Hello. I'm sorry to have missed being here for a few weeks but paperwork was calling me desperately! Well here I am back and bursting with crafting frenzy, I've not made anything for what seems like ages...probably 2 weeks...but however. This week for the #simplestamping technique I am using a lovely stamp set called Lovely You. This is a brilliant stamp set with 12 messages or phrases and 7 images. Not a massive amount of images but let's see how I can make some inspiring cards for this week shall we? 

Another thing I sometimes do is only using Stampin' Write Marker pens. Yes, you can colour a stamp using the pens just as you can with an ink pad. I have made a simple patterned mat using the 3 colours shown then mounted it to the lovely strip of bright pink. The 3 colours are a gorgeous shade of lime green in Granny Apple Green, the beautiful bright pink of Magenta Madness and the rich, unctuous green of Shaded Spruce. In addition to the pens, the only other tool I used was a punch. This is the Lovely Labels Pick A Punch. This punch can punch up to 6 different widths of card in 2 amazing shapes. Love it!

Fun fold Friday Flowers of Friendship

 Today I've gone punch crazy 😜. The beautiful Flowers of Friendship Bundle made me just want to create a bouquet of punched flowers . Then an idea for an easy fun fold came to mind that I could make use of a bouquet of punched flowers for and I was off.

The fun fold is super simple.  Take a piece of cardstock measuring 14.85cm x 26cm. Score it at 10.5cm and 21cm. This creates two 10.5cm wide panels and a third panel that is 5cm wide.

Now fold the two outer panels in over the center panel. The smaller right hand panel closes in first and the larger left hand one folds over on top. Using a bone folder reinforce the folds to create the card base.

 I then cut a piece of patterned paper measuring 14.4cm x 10cm. Only applying adhesive to the out side edges I adheared it to the top larger panel. 

Next I used a circle die to die cut an appature in the first 10.5cm panel. You could use a large circle punch instead of a die. But remember to keep the cardstock circle as you'll need that too. 

Now the punch fun begins.  I stamped rows of the large flowers then small flowers. When you have a punch the cuts multiple shapes I like to stamp the one I'm concentrating on strip of cardstock.  The reason for this is that it is less wasteful.  As you slide the strip in you're only cutting the one image. 

After I'd stamped, coloured and punched a selection of flowers I did the same with the leaves.

Now I cut a piece of patterned paper measuring 4.5cm x 14.4cm and applied it to the smaller panel and closed the card up again so that the small panel was beneath the larger front one.

Next I took the circle of cardstock left from creating the appature and stamped my sentiment on it. 

With my card base closed I applied adhesive to the part of the narrow panel that can be seen through the appature. I then placed my sentiment circle back into the appature. Once secured the circle will remain attatched to the narrow panel as the card is opened.

Now let your creativity flow and decorate as desired! I created a floral wreath around the appature on the front.

I then decorated the sentiment panel...

And the center panel...

As you can see I went a little punch crazy with flowers but I sure did enjoy myself 😉

Well that's it for me this week. I hope I've sparked your imagination and maybe given you some ideas for the fun bundle that is the Flowers of Friendship Bundle . 

Please join us next week as Gill shares her inspiration with all.

Have a nice weekend.

Have fun

Cary xx

All the products I've used this week are available in our shop just click Here. 

If you'd like to join our fun supportive group of Larger Than Life Stampers  by becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and live in the UK,  Germany,  Austria,  France or the Netherlands please click Here. 

Throwback Thursday flowers of Friendship

 Well , as the song says what a difference a day makes!! The sky is grey and the sun is hidden from view 😔 such a contrast to the beautiful blue skies and sun shine but at least it's not raining... yet!!! 😅 But the change in the weather won't stop me from sharing a beautiful bright blue and crisp white card with you today!! Featuring just one ink colour and one stamp set, Flowers of Friendship this project uses a technique that is one I don't use often enough! 

Using a stamp platform tool can be such a help in so many ways. One that I really like is the hinged/ stepped stamping technique that I've used today. This technique is one that requires your stamping platform to be repositionable whilst keeping the stamp in the same place on the platform. For this I use my Stamparatus. 

Using this technique I was able to stamp the sentiment down the length of my cardstock perfectly spaced. So much easier than trusting my eye!!

I then stamped the floral image randomly onto the coloured cardstock mat in the same ink colour, pool party. I also stamped the image onto a piece of white cardstock and coloured it in using pool party blends. Blends are alcohol markers. I fussy cut the stamped image out and stuck 3d foam on the back. 

I adhered the coloured mat onto a white card base. Then adhered the stamped white mat onto it. I then placed the floral image to one side.

A few gems on the front and a stamped insert and my card was finished. 

I am really happy I revisited the hinged stamping technique as this card has brightened a dull day 🙂. I hope you like it too. 

Watercolour Wednesday Flowers of Friendship

 I enjoyed playing with my watercolour pencils so much on Monday that I was inspired to break them out for watercolour Wednesday!!! I wanted to create a quick, simple and not to messy background and I'm happy to report that today's technique is all those things 🙂 The hardest part was choosing which colours to use 😅. 

So all you need are Watercolour pencils , white cardstock and either a waterpainter or a brush and a small amount of water. Next scribble your chosen colours across  the cardstock. Now it doesn't have to be precise so don't over think it!. I wanted full coverage so I scribbled all across the cardstock in varying width bands.

Next I took my water painter and moisened the bristles.  You don't want them sopping wet as we're creating a mess free watercolour 😉 I started by brushing side to side on the lightest colour, Calypso coral. 

I then moved onto the pink then the purple colours, melon mambo and rich razzleberry. Now you could completly brush out the lines but I rather liked them so left them in. But at this stage blending the colours is easy.  

The piece above was my test piece and all I did for todays card was use a larger piece of cardstock!! Once I'd made the background I used the large floral image from the Flowers of Friendship stamp set and heat embossed it in white.

I also tore a stip of vellum and heat embossed my sentiment in white. I wrapped the vellum around the panel and secured it at the back.

A few coloured gems and my card was complete. I hope you'll have a go at this simple technique and enjoy doing it as much as I did. 

Tips,Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Flowers of Friendship

 Today's tip is an oldie but goodie..... Waste not, want not!! This addage fits so well in todays world. We should all be encouraging reduce, reuse, recycle ♻️ And as paper crafters we most certainly can do our bit.  One small way is to not throw away those backgrounds that just didn't work or you didn't get just right for the project you're working on. Combined with a punch , die or stamp you can give them a new life . For today's card I've done just that. I have used the Flowers of Friendship Bundle . This bundle includes the stamps and a punch perfect for those crafters who want coordination with out a die cutting machine!

So for today's card I have used a piece of blended background that I created to use as a colour test piece for another project. As it sat on my desk I kept looking at it thinking I like that but what to do with it 🤔  It wasn't big enough for a background so what to do with it?

Well as I started on another project it hit me I could punch out bits and use them!! As this weeks I'm sharing projects with the Flowers of Friendship it was perfect!!

So I stamped the large and small flowers randomly from the set and punched them out. 

I then stamped the large flower stamp but masked off the flowers themselves  with stcky notes before I inked them.  This way only had the stems and leaves. 

Once I'd finished stamping I decided it needed a bit of texture so I used an embossing folder called Tasteful Textile It's one of my favourites because it is so versatile. 

I love the way this folder add texture without overwhelming the project.

Now it was time to scatter my punch flowers and create a pretty floral pattern. 

I adhered some flat and some popped up on 3d foam to add another layer of interest.

I then adhered the panel to a beautiful bright orange card base to coordinate with my flowers and voila my card was made and my blended piece recycled and not wasted 🙂 

I am really happy that I remembered this tip and created a fun happy card that will certainly put a smile on the recipients face. The sentiment on the card is one that is a favourite of mine  and say's so much.

Well I hope that you are all going to keep this tip in mind next time you go to throw out a background that just didn't quite work 😉 

Make it simple Monday Flower of Friendship

 Wow what a change in the weather we've had here in my part of the world!! We've gone from grum, grots and grimy to almost tropical delight 🌺 that's the joy that is the British weather 🤣 Now I hear you wonder why is she twittering on about the weather? Well it has a big influence on me! When the sun shines I am pulled to bright colours yellows and oranges. And floral images are often the ones that I am drawn too.  So , thanks to the weather, this week I shall be sharing  projects using a stamp set called  Flowers of Friendship 

As always here at 2 Big Girls Crafting Monday's are #simplestamping days. We aim to create inspiration for those who are just starting their stamping journey. The idea being that our projects can be made with minimal products but maximum impact. They are also easy to create with no previous experience of stamping so ideal for the beginner. 

Today's sample uses just white cardstock, black ink, the stamp set and coloured pencils. 

As you can see a very simple card but one that looks sunny and bright as well as clean and simple. 

I have stamped the large floral image along the edge of the card in the middle.  But not all the way up so that only the tops of the flower sprig show. I then stamped it again but to either side but slightly higher up. I them stamped just the petals on the left hand corner as there was a little space left too white 😉

I  stamped the sentiment above and then coloured the images in. I used watercolour pencils.  

And voilà my card was complete.  I hope that this sunny card bring a little sunshine into your part of the world today.

Have a nice day and hope to see you here  tomorrow when I will share another project using the Flowers of Friendship stamp set.